Fays, Fairies, Faeries & other magical creatures

Inspired by the ballet La Sylphide, Martin Butler created a program focused on fairies. Artists Floris Didden and Cedric Laquieze, together with photographer Gautier Pellegrin, transformed the space into a fairy realm. Within this setting, lectures on myth in art and fashion took place, alongside a harp concert exploring fairy themes by Maximilian Ehrhardt, and a Midsummer Night’s Eve masked fairy ball.

Floris Didden, founder of the twice Emmy Award–winning visual studio Karakter, created an immersive environment that invited visitors to step into an unseen midsummer fairy world. Combining digital and traditional painting techniques, and drawing on influences such as Alan Lee and Dave McKean, the set used trompe-l’œil and forced perspective to allow audiences to peer into—and enter—a world between worlds.

Milan-based fashion photographer Gautier Pellegrin presented a newly commissioned series exploring lightness and representations of fairies. After a career in the New York music industry, Pellegrin relocated to Milan to pursue photography, with work published internationally.

Cedric Laquieze, a mixed-media sculptor inspired by folklore, mythology, and history, presented sculptural works made from organic materials. Using insects, skeletons, and plant elements, his theatrical yet restrained sculptures translated fairy-tale creatures into a tangible, real-world context.